The present invention relates generally to a furnace for use in a manufactured home. In particular, the present invention relates to a front panel assembly for such furnaces.
In site-built residential homes, the furnace typically delivers conditioned air to the home by means of ductwork contained within the walls, floor, basement, and/or attic of the home. The air returns to the furnace by means of a return air ductwork. The furnace then conditions the air and delivers it back to the home. In these systems air filtration generally occurs at some point in the return air ductwork.
In contrast, manufactured homes typically do not contain return air ductwork. Instead, the air returns directly to the furnace. Typically, the furnace is installed in a closet or utility room in such a way that the front panel of the furnace is exposed. This front panel usually contains a plurality of louvers. The return air enters the furnace through these louvers. Generally, these furnaces contain filters located behind this louvered front panel. The furnace conditions the filtered air and then delivers it back to the home.
Manufactured home furnaces typically contain front panels made from sheet metal, which has been stamped to create louvers. The stamping of louvers into the sheet metal affects the strength and stiffness of the panel. The panel becomes weaker as more louvers are added to it. Therefore, only a limited number of louvers can be stamped into the panel without compromising the strength of the panel itself. Typically, only enough louvers can be stamped into the door of a standard-sized manufactured home furnace to provide 240 square inches or less of open area through which air can pass. This is much less than the overall size of the panel.
This limit on the number of louvers creates several problems in manufactured homes. First, this lack of open louver area results in decreased airflow. Thus, these systems cannot return air to the home as efficiently as would be desired. Second, as the furnace pulls a relatively large volume of air through the limited louver space, the velocity of the air increases to a high level. This high velocity airflow results in an unacceptably high level of noise in the home. Sheet metal panels also impose other problems such as poor sound-deadening properties and limited aesthetic qualities.
The present invention is directed to a front panel assembly for a furnace used in a manufactured home. The front panel assembly receives air to be conditioned by a manufactured home furnace. Preferably, it includes at least one molded panel. That panel includes a front section and a plurality of louvers extending across the front section which provides flow openings covering at least 40% of the area of the front section of the panel. A fastening system is used to connect the panel to a casing of a furnace.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the front panel assembly comprises two molded panels. In another preferred embodiment, the front panel assembly further includes a panel fastening system, which includes at least one metal rail connected to a rear face of each molded panel. In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the molded panels include a top and bottom flange and the panel fastening system includes two metal rails. These metal rails have a generally z-shaped configuration, such that the metal rails and flanges cooperate to retain at least one filter behind said molded panels.
In a further embodiment, the molded panels of the front assembly are made of plastic.
In another embodiment, the molded panels include two side sections generally perpendicular to the front section and two arcuate sections connecting the front and the two side sections. In a further embodiment, the louvers extend across the front section of the panel and through at least a portion of the arcuate sections.
In a further embodiment, the louvers provide flow opening covering at least 45% of the area of the front section.
In another embodiment, the front panel assembly includes at least two molded panels. Each panel includes a front section, two side sections generally perpendicular to the front section, two arcuate sections connecting the front section and the two side sections, and a plurality of louvers extending across the front section. The louvers provide flow openings covering at least 45% of the area of the front section of the panel. The front panel assembly also includes a fastening system to connect each molded panel together and a system to hold a filter behind the face of each panel.
In a further embodiment, each molded panel is identical. In another embodiment, the first fastening system comprises at least one metal rail connected to a rear face of each molded panel. In another embodiment, the system to hold a filter includes a top and bottom flange provided in the connected panels and two metal rails, the metal rails having a generally z-shaped configuration such that the metal rails and flanges cooperate to retain at least one filter behind said molded panels. In a further embodiment, the top and bottom flanges on the panels and the generally z-shaped rails are spaced from each other and dimensioned to permit a filter to be bent slightly and inserted or removed from the panels.
In another embodiment, the front panel assembly further includes a plurality of reinforcement ribs extending from the rear of the molded panels and interconnecting the louvers. In another embodiment, the plurality of ribs includes a plurality of vertical ribs connected to a plurality of generally horizontal louvers and a plurality of horizontal ribs connected to the plurality of vertical ribs.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.